Severe Storm Damage Over the Weekend

Published May 17, 2021 (sp)

Evacuations of families, cars trapped in the water and mud, walls, trees, fences and fallen trees were the result of the most intense rainfall in the last 3 years, 24.9 millimeters of water; there were areas where the water level reached almost 1 meter.

The rain left material damages due to runoff.

During Sunday and today, representatives of the municipal authorities of San Miguel de Allende toured the damaged sites, such as the areas next to the Cachinches stream.

This was confirmed during a tour by the interim mayor, Gonzalo Gonzalez Rodriguez, who was accompanied by the directors of Works, Sapasma, and the heads of the Secretariat of Public Safety (Police, Transit, Civil Protection).

In total, the rain lasted 7 hours with almost 2 hours of intense rain, accompanied by strong winds and hail which, due to the natural conditions of the municipality, caused the water to wash away earth and stone material from areas where there are public works; however, there were also blockages in sewers, due to the concentration of garbage and the lack of rainwater infrastructure in several areas of the city.

The Secretary of Public Safety, through the Emergency Call Center, attended to timely reports from the citizens, worked throughout the night and carried out a prevention patrol in high-risk areas from the limits with Querétaro, Cerro de la Márgara, Puerto de Nieto, Moral de Puerto de Nieto, Guadalupe de Támbula, Fajardo de Bocas, Corral de Piedras de Arriba, Corral de Piedras de Abajo and Huizachal.

With the rains, the offices of the C4 Control Center, the Emergency system were flooded, as well as the Civil Protection office, the support of the State System of Coordination, Command, Control, Communications, Computing and Intelligence (C5i) was requested and an alternate line was set up and worked for 12 hours.

Material damage was caused by the cleaning of storm drains due to the dragging of material, a van was trapped on the corner of Hernández Macias and Calzada de la Luz, and in the La Luciérnaga subdivision a fence fell and affected a house.

In Fraccionamiento Zirándaro we helped in the removal of 7 vehicles trapped by the water; 3 vehicles were “stuck” on Ignacio Allende street at the corner of Avenida Guadalupe, as well as on the road to Corral de Piedras.

In the review of the Arroyo del Obraje and Presa del Obraje, the water rose strongly over the bridge; no houses were affected. And a tractor-trailer went off the road on the Dolores Hidalgo beltway.